The United Kingdom government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, John Beddington, predicted that the year 2030 will witness a “perfect storm of food, energy and water shortages” across the globe. Speaking at the Sustainable Development UK 09 conference in London, Beddington cited a growing global population as the driving factor behind the anticipated shortages. Beddington predicts that […]
The G-20 is the forum of the future. See its web site at http://www.g20.org/. When the international system is in transformation because of a significant shift in the relative power of nations, as it may well be now, this shift could take place with violence or with a flurry of effective diplomacy. Either way, the […]
The IMF has been stepping up to help solve the global financial crisis. Only a few years ago, it was experiencing an identity crisis and was under fire from many corners. This post addresses the IMF’s changing role and shows a chart detailing its planned redistribution of voting rights that will ensure greater representation of […]
The IMF, in an effort to play a useful role in resolving the current financial crisis, has produced the following research and commentary on the crisis. This important analysis can help policy practitioners and observers cut through the fog of media coverage and the associated tendency toward populism. On March 6, the IMF produced […]
It’s no secret that North Korea and China are close. Of all Pyongyang’s neighbors, it has the most intricate and rosy relationship with Beijing. Today Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao welcomed North Korean Prime Minister Kim Yong-Il (not to be confused with Dear Leader Kim Jong-Il) to Beijing. The two men held a very cordial conversation […]
14. With Russia rearming and China continuing to modernize its armed forces, it is easy to forget that America’s military spending is more than the next 14 biggest countries combined. Graphic from the Economist.
The FOMC today announced plans to buy $300B in treasuries and up to $750B in mortgage-backed securities, effectively agreeing to print a trillion dollars. Well, we knew the money had to come from somewhere. When the federal government wants money, there are four places they can get it: 1) Take from other parts of the […]
The legacy of President George Bush is in the making. His ‘war on terror’ ad hominem seem to belong to another time, distant. But as the months and eventually years unfold, the secrets of his administration will come to light. As will all the associated horrors. So Mark Danner writes in the New York Review […]
I thought this op-ed by Fareed Zakaria on the Post Global blog was a nice rebuttal to Kagan’s “there’s been no change in U.S. foreign policy” argument, though with a clear cautionary note on what he sees as the continuing dangers of an imperial foreign policy. I would question whether his criticism on that point […]
This past week, the UN Human Rights Council heard the report of Asma Jahangir, the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief. Jahangir provided several findings about world-wide discrimination based on religion or belief and its impact on the enjoyment of rights. While looking at the adverse impact of religious discrimination, “it was noted […]
Kenneth Vogel writes in Politico about conspiracy theorists convinced that the “highest levels of the Obama administration are infested with members of a shadowy, elitist cabal intent on installing a one-world government that subverts the will of the American people.” The conspiracy theorists point to President Obama’s selections for top posts – it turns out […]
The Minerals Management Service (part of the Department of the Interior) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced they they will work together in regulating offshore alternative energy activities. This is a necessary but belated step. What’s worrisome is a nascent turf battle between the two agencies, especially at offshore sites that interest more than […]
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